Electron Spin Resonance in Pr0.65Ca0.35MnO3

The magnetic behavior of the distorted perovskite manganese, Pr_0.65Ca_0.35MnO₃ was studied by X-band electron spin resonance for powder samples. We observed the onset of the charge-ordered state at T _CO215 K, the antiferromagnetic transition with the peak of the ESR linewidth, H _p–p at T _AF180 K and the canted antiferromagnetic transition at T _CAF125 K associated with the abrupt increase of both the effective magnetization and H _p–p . Below 90 K, the absorption intensity profile becomes weakened with decreasing temperature suggesting the existence of some kind of magnetic disorder below 90 K, which is responsible for a part of evidence of the existence of the spin-glass state as has been proposed by Yoshizawa et al., Phys. Rev. B 52, 1689 (1996).     

Glomerular adaptations to chronic dietary salt restriction or excess

Micropuncture studies were performed in 33 Munich-Wistar rats maintained chronically either on dietary NaCl restriction (group 1) or excess (group 2). Values for single nephron (SN) and total kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) were identical in both groups. Nevertheless, because of preferential efferent vasoconstriction, glomerular capillary hydraulic pressure (PGC) was higher in group 1, offsetting the lower initial glomerular plasma flow rate (QA) also found in group 1. The pressor response to infusion of exogenous angiotensin II (AII) was less in group 1 than in group 2, suggesting that vascular receptors for AII may have been occupied by endogenous hormone, the latter leading to the efferent arteriolar vasoconstriction. In addition to AII, prostaglandins also appear to be involved in the adaptations of the glomerular microcirculation to chronic variations in salt intake. In group 1, indomethacin or meclofenamate infusion mimicked exogenous AII, causing declines in QA and SNGFR. These changes were lacking in group 2. Because of relative contraction of plasma volume, the vasodilatory effects of prostaglandins appear to be needed in low salt animals to sustain SNGFR and QA. In the high salt group, however, since plasma volume is not contracted, maintenance of SNGFR and QA appears to be less critically dependent on endogenous prostaglandins.     

All-optical wavelength conversion in a GaInAsP/InP optical gate loaded with a Bragg reflector

All-optical wavelength conversion employing a GaInAsP/InP nonlinear distributed-feedback waveguide switch is investigated. The device has the advantages of simple structure, compactness, polarity-noninverted operation, and feasibility of integration with other photonic devices such as semiconductor optical amplifier and modulators. We show that the device exhibits constant conversion efficiency around -9.2 dB in a signal-wavelength range of 1530-1560 nm. Furthermore, this device can potentially be made polarization independent.     

Optical topography: practical problems and new applications

We will briefly review the present status of optical topography and then discuss the method of improving practicality, i.e., the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and the spatial resolution in observations of higher-order brain functions. The optimum wavelength pair improved the S/N ratio sixfold for deoxyhemoglobin, and new configurations of light irradiation and detection positions doubled the spatial resolution. We also report on developing application fields of optical topography. This modality will bridge the gap between natural sciences, neuroscience, and pedagogy, and show actual real-time brain activity.     

Electron holographic 3-D nano-analysis of Au/TiO2 catalyst at interface

Three-dimensional (3-D) nanostructures of gold catalysts supported on TiO2 were analysed by electron holography and high-resolution electron microscopy. The contact angle of the gold particle on TiO2 tended to be >90 degrees in the case of gold particles with a size (height) of >4 nm and it tended to be <90 degrees for gold particles with a height of <2 nm. The change in morphology increases the perimeter at the Au/TiO2 interface as the particle size decreases. This change in 3-D structure should be attributed to a change in electronic structure at the interface. It was found that electron holography enabled 3-D analysis at the atomic level and was effective for analysing nanostructured particles.     

Modeling,Sensing, and Interpretation of Viscoelastic Contact Interface

Soft robotics is important in the next generation of robots because of the rapidly increasing need for robotics in biomedical applications and the advantages of providing a soft interface for interaction with the physical environment in service robots and other applications. It is indispensable to understand the fundamental behavior of such contact interface, typically viscoelastic, in order to accurately predict the actual elastic and temporal responses of the contact and to successfully control it. Viscoelasticity is a phenomenon of time-dependent strain and/or stress in soft materials. It is therefore important to model such behavior and to study the effects of such time-dependent strain and stress on stability and behavior at the contact interface. The contribution of this paper is the introduction of a novel latency model, which is a nonlinear model with differential equations that govern viscoelastic materials. Latency model describes various features of viscoelastic materials, such as stress relaxation and strain creep. The theoretical modeling was supported by experimental results in which we found two types of relaxation. Type I relaxation is well documented in existing literature but Type II relaxation has not been elaborated previously with the physical insights provided in this paper. The proposed theory can unify both types of time-dependent relaxation responses for modeling, sensing, and interpretation of viscoelastic contact interface.